A virtual universe is an interactive simulated environment accessed by multiple users through an on-line interface. Users inhabit and interact in the virtual universe via avatars, which are two or three-dimensional graphical representations of humanoids. There are many different types of virtual universe. However, there are several features many virtual universes generally have in common: (i) Shared Space: the world allows many users to participate at once; (ii) Graphical User Interface: the environment depicts space visually, ranging in style from 2-D “cartoon” imagery to more immersive 3-D environments; (iii) Immediacy: interaction takes place in real time, (iv) Interactivity: the environment allows users to alter, develop, build, or submit customized content: (v) Persistence: the environment's existence continues regardless of whether individual users are logged in; (vi) Socialization/Community: the environment allows and encourages the formation of social groups such as teams, guilds, clubs, housemates, and neighborhoods, for example.
An avatar can have a wide range of business and social experiences. Such business and social experiences are becoming more common in increasingly important in on-line virtual universes, such as that provided in the on-line world Second Life (Second life is a trademark of Linden Research in the United States, other countries, or both).
A viewable field is a field of view for a particular user. The viewable field for a particular user includes virtual universe objects (“VU objects”) as well as avatars belonging to other users. The VU objects are elements in a virtual universe that do not represent a user. A VU object may be for example, buildings, statues, billboards, signs, and advertisements in the virtual universe. The viewable field of a particular user is determined by the virtual universe grid software according to geometries and textures that are currently loaded in the user's virtual universe client. The virtual universe grid determines a length of time that a user views an object based on processing data sent to each virtual universe client. VU objects are identified by Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs), which are unique identifiers associated with the VU objects to allow tables and even databases to be merged with the expectation that all identifiers will be unique. Each VU object has a unique UUID.
A problem may occur if a user creates or acquires a VU object that is deemed offensive to a broad community of users within the virtual universe. Typically, users must avoid a location of the offensive VU object until a host of the virtual universe views the offensive VU object and removes it. However, due to the complexity and relatively large scope of the virtual universe, it is extremely difficult for hosts to effectively monitor VU objects to determine which ones are offensive to the broad community of users.
Accordingly, the inventors herein have recognized a need for a system, a method, and a computer readable media for allowing users to identify and rate a VU object in a virtual universe.